Ultra-Seal Archives - Northamptonshire Tile Doctor

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Renovation Geddington

Pitted Limestone Floor Deep Cleaned, Polished, Filled and Sealed in Geddington

This client from Geddington called me in to renovate their Limestone tiled floor which had been installed throughout much of the ground floor. Limestone like any natural stone is porous and will suffer from ingrained dirt if the sealer isn’t maintained, so it’s not unusual to need work like this doing every three to five years.

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Geddington

I visited the property to survey the tiles and could see the stone had quite a lot of surface pitting which was trapping dirt and making it very difficult to keep clean. Pitting is quite common in this type of stone, and they are usually filled at the factory, however the filler can become dislodged with wear and the problem can be made worse by the use of acidic cleaning products.

Limestone Tile Kitchen Floor Before Cleaning Geddington

Limestone Tiled Steps Before Cleaning Geddington

After surveying the floor, I came up with a comprehensive renovation plan that included deep cleaning the stone, filling the pits, polishing, and then sealing. I also made a note to discuss aftercare cleaning at the end so the floor wouldn’t get so bad in future.

Happy with my plan and quote a date was agreed for the work to commence.

Cleaning a Pitted Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

It was a large floor so to minimise disruption to the owner I split the job up into several areas and worked through the following process.

Work started with a general clean of the floor using Tile Doctor Pro-Clean with a focus on cleaning the grout. I used a strong dilution of Pro-Clean, left it to soak into the stone and grout for around ten minutes and then scrubbed it into the floor using a black pad fitted to a rotary machine. I also ran a stiff grout brush along the grout lines to get them as clean as possible. Once done the floor was rinsed and the soiling extracted with a wet vacuum.

The next step was to hone the Limestone using a set of diamond encrusted burnishing pads. These pads are great for bringing up the polish on a stone floor like this and you start with a coarse 400-grit pad fitted to a rotary floor buffer. Water is used to lubricate the process and the pads are run over each tile three or four times. The floor is then rinsed and extracted as before, and the process repeated with the 800 and then 1500 grit pads.

Once done the floor was looking much cleaner and brighter and ready for the next step which was to fill the pits. To do this I inspected the floor, identifying all the areas that needed attention and then filled those holes with a resin filler that is colour matched to the stone.

Sealing a Pitted Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

The last step was to seal the limestone and for this I used Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is an impregnating sealer that soaks into the stone, occupying the pores of the stone and thereby preventing dirt from residing there. Sealing keeps the dirt on the surface where it can easily be cleaned away. Ultra-Seal doesn’t contain any colour enhancers, so it leaves the stone with a very natural appearance which is what my client wanted.

Limestone Tile Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Geddington

Limestone Tiled Steps After Cleaning Geddington

The floor was transformed by the work and my client was very happy with the result, they even went to the trouble to leave the following review:

“We are absolutely delighted with the work undertaken by Philip, the Northamptonshire Tile Doctor. He has completely transformed very dirty limestone floors into something of great beauty – better than new. Philip was a pleasure to deal with throughout and we can highly recommend him.”

Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor After Cleaning Geddington

With regards to aftercare cleaning, I recommended they use Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is designed for cleaning polished stone floors and helps maintain the patina.

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

Pitted Limestone Floor Deep Cleaned, Polished, Filled and Sealed in Geddington Read More »

Grout Haze Removed From Porcelain Floor Tiles Northampton

Removing Polymer Grout Haze following Porcelain Floor Installation in Northampton

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Northampton Tile Cleaning, Porcelain Tile Cleaning / Philip Vissian / Acid Wash, Black Pad, Grout Clean-up, Grout Haze Removal, Grout Sealing, Kitchen Tiles, Neutral Tile Cleaner, northampton, northamptonshire, polymer grout, Porcelain, Porcelain Tile Cleaning, Remove and Go, Ultra-Seal

This client from Northampton called contact me about their newly installed Porcelain tiles which appeared to be much darker than they remembered from in the shop. They were disappointed with their appearance and so I agreed a time to pop round, diagnose the issues and come up with a solution.

Grout Haze Before Removal From Porcelain Floor Tiles Northampton

Once at the property I quickly established after testing a couple of tiles that there was grout haze over the entire area from installation. This happens when the grout starts to dry on the tile before it is cleaned and fully rinsed off. This problem was compounded by the customer vigorously mopping the floor with several different products trying to resolve this issue themselves and the product building up and attracting more soil to the areas, therefore darkening it further.

The test clean I conducted removed the grout haze to reveal the tile they had been originally expecting. Impressed with the results from the test they asked me to repeat the process on the whole floor which included the kitchen and adjoining dining area. I worked out a quote which was agreed and a date scheduled for my return.

Removing Grout Haze from a Porcelain Tiled Floor

Fortunately, the owner knew which grouting product was used when laying the floor, this was very useful as polymer-based grouts need a different approach to traditional grouts. As it turns out it was a polymer-based grout which makes sense as they are known to set faster and cause this problem as a result.

The process I used was to apply Tile Doctor Remove and Go to a workable section of the floor which was approximately 8m2. The solution was allowed to dwell for ten minutes or so prior to agitating with a rotary brush machine. This area was then rinsed off with water and a wet and dry pick-up machine. This process is used to break down the polymers in the grout but does not fully remove the haze from the tiles, that is covered in the next section.

Part two of treating the grout haze involves the application of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up to the tile and allowing it to dwell for a further ten minutes, a black buffing pad is then used with the rotary machine to scrub the product into the Porcelain tile. As before the soiled solution is removed with another rinse and extracted with the wet and dry pick-up machine.

Once that was done, I inspected the floor to ensure all the grout haze has been removed and repeated the 2nd stage process where required.

Sealing a Porcelain Tiled Floor

I allowed the floors to dry off overnight and returned the following day to apply Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant over all the areas, this is especially good for protecting the grout lines from staining.

Grout Haze After Removal From Porcelain Floor Tiles Northampton

Given the dark colour of the Porcelain tiles it’s difficult to appreciate the improvement from the photographs, my customer was extremely happy with the result though and left the following glowing review:

“Fabulous service from Phil and great results really really pleased. Lovely man and very hard working. Thank you”

Before leaving I made sure to discuss aftercare cleaning, which for this floor I recommend using Tile Doctor pH Neutral Tile Cleaner which is a gentle but effective cleaning product designed for use on sealed tile and stone.

Porcelain Tile Cleaning in Northamptonshire

Removing Polymer Grout Haze following Porcelain Floor Installation in Northampton Read More »

Ceramic Tiled Floor Before After Tile Grout Cleaning Burton Latimer

Ceramic Tile and Grout Deep Cleaned in a Burton Latimer Kitchen

1 Comment / Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Grout Cleaning, Kettering Tile Cleaning / Philip Vissian / Black Scrubbing Pad, Burton Latimer, Ceramic Tile Cleaning, Grout Clean-up, grout cleaning, kettering, Kitchen Installation, Kitchen Tile Cleaning, northamptonshire, Pro-Clean, Ultra-Seal

This customer from Burton Latimer near Kettering was having a new kitchen fitted which would have a different layout to the original. The Ceramic tiled floor was wall to wall and they wanted to see if the tiles could be renovated rather than having to replace them.

Ceramic Tile and Grout During Cleaning in Burton Latimer Kitchen Floor

I attended the customers property to inspect the floor and carry out a test clean on one of the dirtiest ceramic tiles and adjacent grout. The tiles were in a fairly grubby condition and the grout was black with dirt which happens a lot with Ceramic tiled floors. This is due to the ceramic tile being impervious and so the dirt from the tile becomes washed into the grout lines during cleaning.

I carried out the test clean which went well and my customer was impressed; keen to proceed and happy with my quotation the work was booked in. The renovation was scheduled for the day after the old kitchen was removed and before the new kitchen was installed the following week.

Deep Cleaning Ceramic Tile and Grout

To deep clean the tile and grout a strong 1:3 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and warm water was applied to the floor with a pump-up sprayer. The solution was allowed to dwell for several minutes before being worked into the grout using a stiff brush. This was followed up by agitating the solution into the rest of the floor with a rotary floor scrubbing machine fitted with a stiff brush attachment.

Working in sections and removing slurry with a wet pick-up machine. The next process was to apply Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up to all grout lines for a second clean to remove as much stubborn staining as possible. Again, this was worked into the grout with stiff grout brushes. Following this I went over the floor again with a black scrubbing pad attached to the rotary machine. The machines solution tank was filled with water to help lubricate the process and neutralise the floor.

Finally, all the excess water was removed with a wet pick-up machine and the floor was left to dry off overnight.

Sealing Grout on a Ceramic Tiled Floor

I returned the following day to seal the grout, Ceramic tiles won’t take a sealer and as mentioned earlier its best to seal the grout so the dirt remains on the surface and doesn’t get trapped in the rough grout.

After confirmed the floor was dry, I carefully applied Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal to the grout lines using a pipette and then wiping off any excess afterwards.

Ceramic Tile and Grout After Cleaning in Burton Latimer Kitchen Floor

Once done the floor looked new and my client was happy with result, it was a good decision and even more so when you consider the money saved in comparison to replacing the floor.

Deep Cleaning Ceramic Tile and Grout in Northamptonshire

Ceramic Tile and Grout Deep Cleaned in a Burton Latimer Kitchen Read More »

Travertine Tiled Hallway and Kitchen Floor Renovated Welton Daventry

Dirty Tumbled Travertine Floor Renovated in Welton near Daventry

1 Comment / Daventry Tile Cleaning, Travertine Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Philip Vissian / Burnishing Pads, Daventry, Honed Stone, Kitchen Floor, northamptonshire, Polishing Travertine, Pro-Clean, Sealing Travertine, Stone Soap, tile cleaning, Travertine Renovation, Tumbled Travertine, Ultra-Seal, welton

This is a Tumbled Travertine floor with a Honed finish that was installed some years prior in the hallway and kitchen of a house in the village of Welton near Daventry. Kitchens and hallways have the highest foot traffic of any room in a house and without regular maintenance the sealer started to wear down allowing dirt and staining to reach the pores of the tile and grout lines. Travertine is known for its small depressions known as pitting and without the protection of the sealer those areas became heavily soiled. The grout had also darkened with ingrained dirt turning what was a light grey colour into a contrasting black.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton Before Cleaning

After visiting the property and surveying the floor I recommended burnishing the floor with a set of abrasive pads to remove the dirt and then resealing with a more durable product. To prove my point, I ran a small test clean on the floor so they could see the potential difference this could make. Happy with the result they asked for a quote which was accepted, and the job was booked in.

Cleaning a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

I started the cleaning process by sweeping and vacuuming the floor to remove any grit and other debris. Then it was cleaned with a 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, spraying it onto the floor and allowing it to dwell and make a start breaking down the soiling. The product was then worked into the floor using a stiff brush paying particular attention to the pitted areas and along the grout lines to get them clean. This was followed by rinsing the floor with more water and extracting the soiling with a wet pick-up machine.

The next step was to use the burnishing pad system starting with the coarse pad fitted to a rotary machine and worked into the tiles with a small amount of water for lubrication. The set of pads come in various grits and are actually made from industrial diamonds.

This first 400-grit pad cleans the tiles and removes any remaining sealant that may have been present on the tiles. This was continued with the finer 800-grit pad, again using nothing but water and then rinsing the floor of any slurry generated by the process after each pad.

When the floor had dried, I applied a fine 1500-grit pad to bring up the polish on the Travertine until it had a silky honed finish. There is a fourth 3000-grit pad in the system that brings up the polish even further to achieve a high shine finish, but my client didn’t want that look.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton During Cleaning

Sealing a Tumbled Travertine Tiled Kitchen Floor

To protect the travertine, it was sealed using three coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal sealant which is an impregnating invisible sealer resulting in a very natural finish. Once dry the floor was buffed using a soft white buffing pad.

Tumbled Honed Travertine Welton After Cleaning

You can see from the photos how much cleaner and lighter the Travertine tiles look and that the light grey colour of the grout has been restored. The new sealer will make it much easier to maintain now and with the correct cleaning regime in place the sealer should last a long time. My client was very happy with the work and left the following feedback for me:

“Really happy with our new floor. The service was professional and thorough – definitely worth the money.”

For the regular cleaning of a floor like this I recommend Tile Doctor Stone Soap which is a mild cleaning product that’s designed for use on sealed and polished stone. You must be especially careful when choosing a cleaning product for sealed tiles as many of the products you find in supermarkets are simply too strong and can degrade the sealer prematurely.

Professional Restoration of a Travertine Tiled Floor in Northamptonshire

Dirty Tumbled Travertine Floor Renovated in Welton near Daventry Read More »

Pale Marble Floor Clean Seal Old Village

Grout Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Floor in Old Village

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Kettering Tile Cleaning, Marble Tile Cleaning, Northampton Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Philip Vissian / Burnishing Pads, Diner, Floor Tiles, kitchen, Marble Polishing, marble tiles, northamptonshire, Old, polishing, Pro-Clean, Stone Polishing, Stone Soap, Ultra-Seal

Last year I was called to look at Polished Marble floor at a house in the small village of Old in Northamptonshire which is situated between Kettering and Northampton. The Marble floor was reasonably large at 25m2, and the main problem was the Marble had lost most of its shine, becoming dull and lifeless over time, additionally the grout which was once white had darkened with ground in dirt,

Marble Tiled Floor Before Grout Cleaning and Polishing

If you want the look of a highly polished floor then it will need regular polishing to keep its appearance, in fact Tile Doctor provide a “Maintenance Plan” service for this purpose. How often you need a repolish really depends on how much the floor is used and for a busy high traffic area such as this kitchen diner it may be necessary to have two visits a year.

In this case the Marble needed a lot more than a repolish, my client was unhappy with the stained grout lines and the tiles really needed stripping and resealing to bring the colour back to somewhere near its original. After surveying the floor, I was able to confirm what needed to be done and gave them a price for the work which they were happy to accept.

Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

To get the grout clean and give remove grit etc from the floor before polishing I gave it an initial clean using a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. This is a professional Tile and Grout cleaning product which is applied to the grout, left to soak in for ten minutes and then scrubbed into the grout line by hand. The soil is then rinsed off with water and then extracted with a wet vacuum.

To bring up the polished appearance of the Marble tiles I used a set of four 17” diamond encrusted burnishing pads which have different levels of grit. The pads are applied to the Marble tiles in sequence using a floor buffer and a small amount of water for lubrication. I started with a coarse pad, before moving on to a medium pad, then a fine pad on the first day, working in small sections of around 4 – 5sqm. The floor is given a thorough rinse between each pad to remove any excess residue generated from the burnishing process. The soil was then extracted using a wet vacuum to keep the mess to a minimum.

Sealing a Marble Tiled Kitchen Diner Floor

The floor was left to dry overnight, and I returned the next day. I carried on the process using the very fine burnishing pad to achieve a high shine finish. This pad is applied dry to the floor using only a little water sprayed onto the tile. It brings up the final polish on the tiles and leaves the floor dry so it can be sealed afterwards.

To seal I applied a single coat of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal which is a premium impregnating sealer that soaks into the pores of the stone protecting it from within. It’s a natural look sealer and by this, I mean it doesn’t alter the natural look of the stone and is almost invisible. The area was dried with a fan for one hour and then I checked the performance of the sealer by carrying out a water repellence test. The result of this test will let me know if a second coat of sealer may be needed.

Marble Tiled Floor After Grout Cleaning and Polishing

Once complete the grout was white again and the Marble tiles had a deep shine to them. My client was very happy with the results of my work and took the time to leave the following comment on the Tile Doctor feedback system.

Marble Polishing and Grout Cleaning Testimonial Old Village

For aftercare cleaning I recommended Tile Doctor Stone Soap which will keep the floor clean and help maintain the lustre. I also I let them know about our maintenance program which involves popping back for a couple of hours once a year to give the floor a polish with a very fine 3000-grit burnishing pad and top up the sealer.

Professional Restoration of a Marble Tiled Floor in Northampton

Grout Cleaning and Polishing a Marble Tiled Floor in Old Village Read More »

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned Sealed Boughton Northamptonshire

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Boughton

1 Comment / Grout Cleaning, Limestone Tile Cleaning and Polishing, Northampton Tile Cleaning, Work by Category, Work by Location, Work History / Philip Vissian / Boughton, Burnishing Pads, Cleaning Kitchen Tiles, Dirty Grout, Dogs, Floor Tiles, grout cleaning, Grout Sealing, northampton, Polishing Limestone, Pro-Clean, Sealing Limestone, Stone Soap, Ultra-Seal

These photos are of a four-year-old Limestone kitchen floor at a property in Boughton that the customer was finding hard to keep clean and maintain a shine. Part of the problem was he owned two dogs and we often warn about the problems of dog urine on sealed tile and stone due to it being high in nitrogen.

Limstone Kitchen Floor Before Clean Polish Boughton

On my initial visit I was able to ascertain that the sealer had almost completely worn off, leaving the stone vulnerable to dirt becoming ingrained into the pores of the stone. I come across this problem a lot, in my experience when stone floors are installed by tilers, they generally apply a single coat of sealant which wears off over time, and as discussed earlier can be prematurely degraded by strong chemicals.

My quote to renovate the Limestone floor was accepted and included a deep clean to the stone and grout, stone polish and then re-seal.

Cleaning/Polishing Limestone Tiled Flooring

I arrived on site on the arranged date and began by scrubbing all the grout lines with Tile Doctor grout brushes and a 3:1 dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean. I then moved on to a small handheld polishing machine to clean around the tile edges using 800 and 1500 grit diamond encrusted burnishing pad to achieve a deep clean.

The process was then repeated throughout the rest of the area using larger 17” burnishing pads fitted to a floor polishing machine. The burnishing pads I used come in a set of four starting with 400-grit and moving up to 800, 1500 and 3000 grit, after each pad is applied the floor is rinsed with water and the soil extracted with a wet vacuum.

It took me much of the day to complete this stage of the renovation and the floor was still damp so once done I left for the day, allowing the floor to dry off overnight.

Sealing a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor

I returned the following day to complete the final polish using the 3000-grit burnishing pad, this gave a high polished finish which the customer had requested. This last pad is applied dry with only a little water splashed onto the tile, a process we call a spray burnish.

The floor was then sealed with three applications of Tile Doctor Ultra Seal Sealant to protect the newly restored and polished tiles. Ultra-Seal is a penetrating sealer that soaks into those recently cleaned pores in the stone, occupying the space and preventing any dirt from becoming ingrained there. It’s also a natural look sealer so it doesn’t change the colour of the stone in anyway and is almost indetectable once applied.

“Hard work from Philip has left us with a kitchen floor brought back to life – cleaned and sealed in little over 24 hours – brilliant job – Thanks”

Before leaving I gave the customer some tips on maintenance and a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Stone Soap to enable him to keep the floor looking its best, this product works well with the sealant we applied and is PH neutral so won’t degrade the new sealer.

Limestone Kitchen Floor After Clean Polish Boughton

Professional Restoration of a Limestone Tiled Kitchen Floor in Northamptonshire

Limestone Kitchen Floor Cleaned, Polished and Sealed in Boughton Read More »